There is a place on a ridge overlooking New York City where bronze paws grip twisted steel. The Search and Rescue Dog Statue at Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange, New Jersey, honors the dogs who served after the attacks, standing watch over the Manhattan skyline.

Pinecone and I came five times before sunrise before the sky finally gave me what I had been waiting for. Each time, I carefully positioned him nearby on a hidden makeshift platform, close to the memorial but never touching it, and waited for his attention to turn toward the bronze dog above—with a little help from a jingling cat toy.

When everything finally came together, I saw what I had been trying to create all along: One living dog looking toward another, twenty-five years between them.

The Tribute in Light wasn't shining that July morning, so I first tried photographing the beams separately on location. When that didn't work, I recreated them with two flashlights in my studio and composited them into their place of honor.

Heroes Remembered isn't meant to recreate September 11 or pretend Pinecone could understand what happened there. It's my way of honoring the dogs who went where they were asked to go, the handlers beside them, and a kind of courage that asked for nothing in return.